IW*!"PR9SI 





■ 






^H^^^^H 


y-iiii:--.;...-l i ! 


jjll 


HH 


Ir-- - : " '? • 


■ 




Classf >? >35l^ 

BookJ2< 

GoijyiigIit]^«_ilii 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



WINE FOR THE SOUL 

IN PROSE AND VERSE 



^ 



o 
HP ^ 



WINE for the SOUL 

IN PROSE AND VERSE 
B^ MARGARET OLIVE JORDAN 

Author of "GOD'S SMILES," "WAVES of the WORLD" 
and "THE MYSTERY of LUCAS TERRACE." 

DnDnnnnDDDDDnaDO 



^ 



IB EJ 




^ 



^ 



o 



"Published by J. F. ROWNT PRESS 

Los Angeles : : 1919 : : California 



1^ 






^^'ntI'' 



^^ 



Copj^rigKt, 1919 
by 

MARGARET OLIVE JORDAN 

Los Angeles, Cal. 
All rights reserved. 



JUL ?5 i9!9 



ANTHEM 

Praises be to the Divinity that opens my soul 
to the hght of the glorious morn, waking me to 
knowledge of Love and Truth, flowing clear and 
beautiful from the great cup of Life; irradiating 
my being with transcendental loveliness and har- 
monizing me with everything that leads to eternal 
happiness; finally bringing me into complete one- 
ness with the great Source of All. Praises be to 
my Higher Self. 

Amen. 



THE ASCENSION 

Dedicated to my husband, Andrew Hugh Jordan, whose love 
withstood all temporal power and is mine still, though he has 
ascended. 

Out of the depth of Self — 

Out of the seeming things, 
Up to the True and Real 

Riseth his soul on wings. 

Out of material gross, 

Shining with precious glow, 
Transient as moment, fleet, 

Flickering to and fro. 

Out of the cobweb's mesh, 

Freed from its deadly clasp. 
Leaps he, with mighty force 

God's vital facts to grasp. 

Out of deception's mire — 

Up to the sterling true, 
Where reigneth Love alone; 

Christ's path he'd fain pursue. 

Far from the false he hastes — 

Jealousy, hate and strife. 
High above Self's low plane. 

Knowing 'tis Good rules life. 



Dedication 

Up to the sweet Ideal 
Soareth his soul its way, 

Drinking from Wisdom's cup, 
Bathing in Truth's pure ray. 

Onward and upward still — 
Light on his path shines clear ;- 

Thus declare I, who 

On earth he holds most dear. 



*Written for and read by Mrs. Jordan at the crematory serv- 
ice over Mr. Jordan's body. — Publishers. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Anthem V 

The Ascension VI 

The Gauge 9 

The Philosophy of Happiness ... II 

The Angel Peace 15 

Brain Children 16 

Our Work 17 

The Sky Lark 20 

As it Comes 21 

Repeating Unpleasantries .... 22 

Through Mistake 26 

Right is Might 27 

The Call up Glory Trail 28 

Look Ahead 32 

Our True Reformers 33 

The Poet's Ear 37 

Finding Joy in the Common Things . 38 

Secret Sermons 42 

The Religion of the "Blue Domer" 43 

Slander 47 

Keep a Grateful Heart 48 

When Hearts are True 52 

Is Poverty a Disease? 53 

The Diver 57 

Why Some People Fail and Others 

Succeed 58 

To Be and Not to Seem 63 

vii 



Wine for the Soul 

Make of Life a Melody 64 

Friendship's Recall 68 

The Forgiving Spirit 69 

My Rosary 73 

The Penetrant Light 73 

The Meaning of Broadmindedness . 74 

Across the Path 78 

Kindness a Fine Art 79 

Protection 82 

In the Heart's Twilight 83 

In the Desert of Waiting 84 

When a Man Is Down 87 

Building a City Beautiful .... 88 

Learn to Look Up 92 

Never Become Discouraged with 

Yourself 93 

What Doesn't Pay 96 

The Greater Wealth 97 

Forget — Remember 101 

Parenthood 102 

Love's White Rod 106 

Show Me the Way 107 

The Things That Are Worth While 108 

A Smile 112 

Life's Sum-Total 113 

Winning Your Way 114 

Pray Without Ceasing 117 

In the World's Wilderness . . . 118 

In Perpetuum 122 



THE GAUGE 

Fling wide the door of Everywhere 

And let Truth's sunlight in; 
However blinding be its glare, 

'Twill purify all sin. 

I ope the door of Everywhere, 

And, Life, I'll sup with thee ! 
'Twixt thee and Truth I will compare 

And gain my liberty. 

Though scarlet hands should hold thy cup 

Of sparkling wine, O Life, 
Why should I fear, if I may drink 

With thee and Truth, 'mid strife? 

The Light that shines through Everywhere 

May clarify the scene; 
If this be true, why should I care 

If Truth dare stand between? 

Who knows but that the scarlet hand 

May lose its shadowed line — 
And all because I oped the door 

For Everywhere to shine? 



The Gauge 

For Everywhere is Life and Truth ; 

The Light is shining Love. 
The wine is but the living draught 

That's rained from heaven above. 

I ope the door of Everywhere ! 

Nor shall it close, until 
I know that Life and I shall share 

Truth's blessed, holy will ! 



10 




THE PHILOSOPHY OF HAPPINESS 

Work a little, play a little, 

Busy every day; 
Sing a little, laugh a little, 

Don't forget to pray. 

HE world at present is filled with an 
overworked and tried people. And 
the real purpose of it all cannot be 
understood by mortal mind. 

Humanity is surging with unbridled 
passion, and is tumultuous with uncontrolled 
grief. It is so blown about by anxiety and 
doubt that happiness to many seems to have 
lost its name. It is only those whose thoughts 
are stayed and purified that can make the 
winds and storms of present discord pause and 
obey the soul. There are some, we are glad 
to note, who are greatly in control of them- 
selves, even in a time like this, and it is to them 
that the world is indebted for the light that 
falls upon the darkened pathway. Their calm 
and beautiful lives assure us that self-control 
by thought is the simple philosophy of happi- 
ness. That it is through thought and thought 
alone that the Divine Spirit works for all, and 

11 



Wine for the Soul 

that this calm and poise is obtained by fre- 
quently applying to this Divine source within 
ourselves. 

After all is summed up we gain the truth, 
that happiness is a state of mind. To create 
this state the principal faculty to be employed 
is the imagination, for whatever the imagina- 
tion continues to imagine, that will it create, 
therefore we cannot afiford to imagine what 
we do not wish to realize in tangible life. To 
be really happy we must picture in mind a 
true state of joy, and when once discerned 
we must enter into it so thoroughly that we 
can feel it. Conditions of depression and 
gloom will begin to give way to this new- 
found state of mind. If the training is con- 
sistently kept up, in a reasonable time the 
entire personality will be overwhelmed by 
that beautiful individuality, which makes 
some people glow with a peculiar loveliness, 
which seems to say: '^I know that the Father 
careth for me and for you, and is planning all 
things for our everlasting good." 

When a mind once establishes itself in a 
faith like this, it is no longer subject to those 
powers that destroy and make useless the mind 
and body. When we try consistently to be 
something truer and greater, we cause all the 

12« 



The Philosophy of Happiness 

powers of love to flow to us. And this love 
will build us up in health. Whatever happens 
it is in us to try to be strong in mind ; to try to 
be poised and pure in mind, and to try to be 
greater. We cause all the powers of love this 
way, and in no other, to create an atmosphere 
of happiness for ourselves. 

The life that is within can say to the life 
that is without, "We are of one sweet and 
beautiful interest. The kind words you de- 
sire said to you, you must think and say to 
another; the love you so much want, that love 
you must give. The smiles you want to 
brighten your life, you must give away; the 
cheery voice you want to hear, you must give 
out; the same peace that you crave, you must 
give." This is the message that life gives for 
the simple getting of happiness. 

To be patient under the oppressions of life 
certainly requires self-mastery. We must 
think, and through thinking learn to renounce 
selfish ideals. Through prayer and service 
we can gain happiness, that simple happiness 
that makes no fuss of arrogance. 

So if we are down we must collect our minds 
and rise and be thankful that the great God 
thought enough of us to count us in His world 
royal, in a time like this. We must not whine, 

13 



Wine for the Soul 

grouch nor pout. It is common. Neither 
must we hang on to the past. Every day is a 
new birth, a new opportunity offered us by 
life. We must bear our burdens like gods, 
believing them to be door-ways to happiness. 
We should be very grateful for every experi- 
ence, for through experience knowledge 
comes. If we will cultivate happiness, it will 
cultivate us. It is a law of self-government. 



14 



THE ANGEL PEACE 

(Dedicated to sorrowing ones of our land.) 

O weary hearts ! O mourning home I 
Let God's meek Angel gently come; 
The Angel Peace will banish pain, 
And e'en restore your lost again. 
If you but let, our Father dear. 
Will send his Angel Peace, to cheer. 
Oh! thou who mournest, I would say: 
"Come, cease your grieving, learn to pray, 
'Tis not my will, O Heavenly One, 
But Thy just will alone be done !' " 
Then turn thine heart to the Angel kind. 
Who gently whispers: "Be resigned! 
Bear up, dear ones; the end shall tell 
The dear Lord ordereth all things well." 



15 



BRAIN CHILDREN 

Our thoughts are like so many pebbles 
Thrown out into Life's deep sea, 

Which rippling wavelets, rolling 
On throughout eternity. 

Our thoughts are things Immortal 
That, as Thinkers, we create, 

Patterned by the Mind's designing, 
In fair pictures which elate. 

Then with care should we regard them, 
Since they are of Self a part; 

Lest it chance Life's breakers roll them 
O'er a bruised and aching heart. 

Let's fit them with the wings of Mercy; 

They are children of our brain. 
Floating far throughout the Cosmos, 

Chanting out our life's refrain. 



16 




OUR WORK 

HE greatest gift to mankind is work! 
And ''work or starve" is nature's motto. 
Since this is true we all need to come 
in closer rapport with our work, what- 
ever it may be, would we make it a suc- 
cess. Love is the power that can transmute 
work and drudgery into joy and gladness. 
Truly, love lightens labor. 

One may love life and all that it brings in 
the way of opportunity through whole-heart- 
edness, so that the meanest detail of it comes 
to have a meaning and beauty. It is not enough 
to make a sense of mere duty to wait upon our 
work; it is not enough to brood over it in 
thought; we must learn to love it! Yes, we 
should love our work and fill it with the life 
of our being. In this way only can we make 
it serve us. 

Work is a necessity. The Creator might 
have given us our bread ready made; He 
might have kept us in the beautiful Eden for- 
ever; but he did not. He had a nobler end in 
view for man than the mere satisfaction of his 
animal appetites and passions. Work, when 

17 



Wine for the Soul 

properly performed, makes possible the high- 
est attainments. All legitimate occupations are 
respectable and one should never feel above 
one's v^ork. The mental attitude toward a 
thing is the thing that counts. There is always 
something wrong with the man or woman who 
looks upon labor as degrading. Any work 
nobly performed will lift a man or woman into 
respectability. 

It is the struggle to attain that lifts the indi- 
vidual. The moment we put our hand upon 
that which looks attractive at a distance, and 
for which we struggle so hard, nature robs us 
of its charm by holding up before us another 
prize still more attractive. So it is we re- 
linquish one prize to pursue another, but with 
added strength developed in the struggle to 
attain the last. We can never stand still, you 
know, but it is onward and upward forever! 
Yes, indeed, what a GREAT thing is work! 

It calls us away from the hollow, conven- 
tional, untrue things, and forces us into actual 
contact with living, throbbing humanity. It 
gives us human experience. It teaches pa- 
tience, perseverance, endurance, forbearance 
and application. It forces us to be tender, sym- 
pathetic and kind to one another. Through 
our work lost hopes are resurrected, griefs 
18 



Our Work 

are overcome, health is established and our 
world is brightened. 

As long as we have work to do we should 
never despair or grow weary of Life's varied 
paths. They all lead Home — to Success; and 
success is God's approval of man's work, which 
He has given each to do and which must be 
done. Every soul should do his work the 
best he knows. And we should cheerfully 
and willingly help others with their work 
when we can, and seek to avenge no injury. 
All work is God's work, consequently as earn- 
est men and women we should honor and obey 
its call. A great American, one who bravely 
started his life at the foot of the ladder of Toil, 
arriving at the top finally, said: 

^'Labor is the great master of the race. It 
is the grand drill in life's army, without which 
we are only confused and powerless when 
called into action." 

How necessary then it is as laborers that we 
dignify our efforts and know that Success is 
the child of hard work and perseverance. 



19 



THE SKYLARK 

The skylark near my meadow brook 

Knows naught of sorrow; 
His one concern, It Is to live 

To sing tomorrow. 

'TIs to this end he hunts the worm, 

His song to strengthen; 
He prays to God no prayer of doubt, 

His life to lengthen. 

The skylark near my meadow brook 

Performs his duty; 
And all who hear his song of love 

Concede his beauty. 

He wastes no time In thinking where 
He'll sing tomorrow; 

He has his voice, his wings, and worm- 
Why should he sorrow? 



20 



AS IT COMES 

Take life as It comes, 

Don't grieve and despair; 
Take life at Its best, 

There's peace somewhere. 

Take life as It Is ! 

Don't worry and fret. 
There's never a good 

That's come of It yet. 

Just take It, enjoy It, 
In spite of the wrong. 

And hear the world echo 
With music and song. 

'TIs both weak and foolish 
To whimper and sigh 

O'er clouds of the morning 
That soon will float by. 



21 




REPEATING UNPLEASANTRIES 

"I breathed a sorrow on the air — 
It raised a cross for one to bear; 
A brow grew wrinkled with my thought; 
A heart was in its meshes caught. 
It brought me grief — another, too, 
This vagrant thought of mine, untrue!" 

HOLD that all truths, both spiritual 
and natural, harmonize. One truth 
cannot oppose another. But it is the 
half-truth that causes so much sorrow 
and trouble in this world. Truth tam- 
pered with by a mind in half-truth fashion 
seldom fails to record sorrow and distress. It 
has often been known to break hearts. It has 
caused many useful lives to retire into oblivion 
for days and years, until old Time, the faithful 
adjuster, comes forward on reckoning day and 
straightens things out in proper order. But 
while we wait, we know that we have been 
robbed of some of our greatest characters, 
and it does not seem right. 

These half-truths are tossed about by those 
undeveloped minds who find pleasure in re- 
peating unpleasantries, and who think they 
are giving out "information" and caring 
22 



Repeating Unpleasantries 

naught of the discordant effect that will fol- 
low. If persons of this character only knew 
that a deep, impenetrable gloom is always 
hanging between their minds and the celestial 
mind, maybe these dear beings would have 
more care. Maybe if they really knew this 
marvelous truth they would not venture over 
the threshold of their own mental abode with 
the half-truths that wound, and which, if 
tested out, they could not substantiate. 

Anything that has in it no supporting 
strength is at best but a half-truth. This is all 
wrong — this carrying of messages that bruise 
and hurt. If I want to help, I must let my 
purpose be true. I must let my every thought 
be honest, accurate, clean and straightforward, 
otherwise I am playing the juggler, and can- 
not support that which I would build. 

The thing for which we are all seeking is 
the best! But some of us have strange and 
circuitous ways of going after it. There is an 
eternal endeavor to reach the superior point. 
Our souls seek emancipation from omissions 
which our thoughts impoverish us with, and 
commissions, that defeat us for a time. In a 
dim sort of way we long to get hold of the 
valuable things of life, but our half-truth em- 
ployment seriously interferes. We, as a rule, 

23 



Wine for the Soul 

lay too much stress on appearances — the unim- 
portant, and are, therefore, hourly beset by 
small vexations. And the unpleasantries we 
are dealing in rasp and file and establish a 
wearing attrition that drains our vitality and 
finally induces insidious ailments which be- 
come in time serious afflictions. 

As a whole, we must learn that peace and 
progress cannot or will not come by pricks 
and prods. These are the implements of 
delay. The whole truth and nothing but the 
truth can lead us safely to our goal. Every 
life should receive our sanction of happiness 
in its completeness. We should do all in our 
power to aid to this end. We must let go of 
mental phantoms that shadow us, if we want 
to walk upright. We must cease groping 
about in the debris of silly illusions. 

Our messages of ^'information" should be 
none but those of highest encouragement, even 
to our most undeveloped friend. We should 
present our messages to each other with utmost 
respect and sincere good will. We should let 
no word pass our lips that would intentionally 
wound or coerce those we seek to aid. Mor- 
ally, we may be forgiven for what we say and 
do, but nature exacts payment in full for our 
every thought and action. She has no special 
24 



Repeating Unpleasantries 

providence nor favoring dispensations in her 
kingdom, and each thing or man must stand 
or fall with what is strongest or weakest in it 
or him! 

Nature has endowed us all with the gift 
of giving. It is for us to learn HOW to man- 
age this gift. By knowing that we shall get 
back in kind that which we give, we will 
probably in time become true artists in our 
distribution of gifts. And in doling out public 
information entrusted to us, we will learn in 
that there is a clean, sweet method of distri- 
bution. If our information be a message that 
is comforting and encouraging, it can be 
classed as truth. On the other hand, if it 
stings and hurts and angers, it is but a half- 
truth, reflecting forever the messenger in its 
shadows, where might have gleamed the sun- 
light of love and pure confidence, trust and 
faith. 



25 



THROUGH MISTAKE 

Oh, what blunders we do make I 
Blunders caused through sad mistake; 
Knowing not what we create 
Till too late I till too late. 

Doing things we think are best, 
Missing often peace and rest; 
Feeling "This way is the best" 
Till we wake — till we wake. 

Till we wake to Truth and Right, 
And behold the perfect Light 
Hid so long from our poor sight 
Through mistake, through mistake. 



26 



RIGHT IS MIGHT 

Cover Right up with the shadows 
Of falsehood, if you will; 

Press it beneath the billows 
Of hatred, it stays Right, still. 

Sink it clear to the bottom 
Of degradation and stain, 

But remember, cork-like, 
It shall rise again. 

Pierce your poisoned arrow 

Deep into its palm, 
Yet out of its own blood flowing 

Will be the healing balm. 



27 




THE CALL UP "GLORY TRAIL" 

"We face to the front with our heads held high, 
Though the Winds of Hate go roaring by, 
We shall not falter, we shall not fail. 
Till we reach the end of Glory Trail." 

O sings Anne Virginia Culbertson, 
who, though an invalid, is following 
the Glory Trail with a light in her 
soul that would shame the luster of a 
Texas moon. Such individualities 
show the fearful, doubtful ones what it means 
to light the lamp of the soul and set it in the 
window of the heart while they climb Glory 
Trail. 

Who of us, when we know of souls like 
these, and have a particle of ambition or the 
least bit of love in our natures, can resist the 
desire to fall in line and strike out a Glory 
Trail for ourselves? 

We may not hope or even wish to make our 
Glory Trail a big sensation, still we feel we 
should do something for ourselves — something 
for humanity, when we are convinced that 
we are a link in its great chain. It is at such 
moments of meditation that we feel the near- 
28 



The Call Up ''Glory Trail" 

ness of Life and are reminded of many neg- 
lected duties. When Life presses so closely, 
we seem to sound her secrets, among which are 
heard: ''Glory Trail, if lighted with inspira- 
tion of love and confidence in Good and nour- 
ished by a healthy Will, may be safely pur- 
sued, and, at the end of the journey, all noble 
desires will be found as ripened fruit." 

It is the call ! We feel our feet set on Glory 
Trail, with all of our forces concentrated for 
the climb. But we are told that we will find 
hovering around Glory Trail black clouds of 
criticism, and thunder of discouraging voices 
will break upon the way; and lightning- 
flashes of jealousy will dart athwart the Trail. 
But we are told, also, that on Glory Trail 
shine the most beautiful stars of appreciation, 
and that voices from on High call down to the 
toiling ones: "Onward, comrades, you shall 
not fail; we swear it who have climbed the 
Trail." 

Those who are on the Trail tell us, when we 
answer the call, we are sure to feel the holy 
presences of those who have far advanced, and 
that we will receive their unselfish thoughts, 
and the touch of their sympathetic hands held 
out to us will not fail to cheer us. It will be 
then that we shall know, though the ascent be 

29 



Wine for the Soul 

steep, it is not nearly so rough as we had im- 
agined it, and we will never under any circum- 
stances want to turn back, but will fully enjoy 
the pull and the climb, because a belief is given 
us that Glory Trail is a Point that God set 
for us. 

Those along Glory Trail are always un- 
selfish. There is a comradeship among them 
which bubbles to the surface of their beings 
and reaches out to the small and weak and 
draws them nearer to the top of the Trail. All 
along Glory Trail to the very end, we are told 
can be found written: ^'Be strong; be brave; 
be true. Elbow no one; place no stumbling- 
block. Glory Trail is open for all who 
strive!" 

Life speaks again and says that there will 
be struggles enough for those who choose the 
Trail without ''extras" added through any 
selfish sources. It is Life who assures us of the 
value of the little things up Glory Trail. She 
tells us that the little kindnesses, the little 
courtesies, gratitude for favors received, and 
tender little smiles exchanged are the stepping- 
stones that insure safety up Glory Trail. 

It is said, too, that one who strikes out Glory 
Trail in the name of Right makes rapid prog- 
ress. And Love, it is affirmed, has planted all 
30 



The Call Up ''Glory Trail" 

along the Trail jewels of rarest thought; 
flowers from the richest minds, and that there 
resounds along the Trail the purest music, 
furnished by the laughter of little children. 
All these, it is said, are provided for those who 
have answered the call up Glory Trail, to 
divert their attention from the discouraging 
sounds, and the ungrateful things done, and 
to keep them in tune with the Infinite One 
who inspired one of the Glory Trail pilgrims 
to sing: 

"Our feet are set on Glory Trail, 
We shall not falter; we shall not fail. 
The path is rough and the way is steep, 
But straight to the Upward Trail we'll keep!" 



31 



LOOK AHEAD 

Look ahead, don't look behind you 
At mistakes that oft' did bind you ; 
They belong to olden ages — 
Turn to Future's now — white pages. 

Look ahead, a God-like being, 
Eyes aloft, the bright side seeing, — 
Heart of faith, a soul well knowing. 
There's no lost hope In life's true sowing! 

Look ahead In Truth abiding. 
Trust thy spirit for the guiding; 
The way, you cannot lose It, never ! 
Follow, trust It aye, forever. 

Look ahead, don't give up trying 
For the Goal; just cease your crying. 
Smile and pray and keep on going, 
God will mark thy patient sowing. 

Life Is great, just keep on striving 
'Gainst the odds. You are arriving. 
Share Life's glories, and forever, 
They are thine. No past can sever 

Thee from Love and Peace, thy making. 
Look ahead, the Light Is breaking ! 

32 






OUR TRUE REFORMERS 

'Heaven forming each on other to depend, 

A master, or a servant, or a friend. 

Bids each on other for assistance call, 

Till one man's weakness grows the strength of all." 

UR nation is at this time struggling 
desperately to civilize society; to take 
from it the force of might and supply 
it with the power of right. It is using 
every means to balance the scales of 
justice, so that love and liberty will tip har- 
moniously in the life of the individual. That 
this work may be accomplished, men and 
women throughout our country are working 
singly and in bodies and are looking hopefully 
to see the perfect balance. 

From a certain perspective it seems that the 
web of our present life is made up of faint 
lights and dense shadows, and some of us, peer- 
ing through this encircling gloom, scarce 
know where we are. It looks like all the laws 
of St. Custom are being strained to the limit 
through the present process of reconstruction. 
No true friend of humanity can lightly look 
on the throng of social workers without a tug 

33 



Wine for the Soul 

of anxiety at the heart and an earnest thought 
of God speed the cause of right! 

What a grave and delicate task this — the re- 
forming of character-building from cause to 
effect. How many are there who are engaged 
in dealing out laws of reformation whose 
minds are truly intelligent of those laws with 
which they are dealing and who in thought are 
pure and merciful to the fine point of being 
just? The very coarsest person has in his na- 
ture the feeling that the dealer of the law 
should be one possessed of courtesy, kindness, 
courage and wisdom. A thoroughly justified 
feeling. Surely the reformer should be the 
most careful person, a good philosopher and 
a thorough student of human nature, with a 
positive knowledge that the human and divine 
are as closely associated as the flower and the 
stalk. 

Properly investigated, it may seem that some 
of the most unnatural vices with which the 
reformer has to deal are suggested and per- 
petuated by certain mischievous customs which 
are considered altogether fashionable and un- 
questionably moral. The hasty denunciatory 
reformer cannot afford to stand on slippery 
places, would he lift the one who is below him. 

The lesson of life is to see through, above 

34 



Our True Reformers 

and under appearances. Things seem to be 
one thing when they are another. The impedi- 
ment of all reform is that the inmost prin- 
ciple of the work in hand is overlooked, and 
that is, that the absolute reform must begin 
with the formation of the soul and body. 

The idea of the true sort of reformation is 
not to punish but to correct. All evils are by 
nature earth-born and superficial and cannot 
spoil the soul that is for a time burdened with 
them. Give the misguided one something bet- 
ter to do and he is relieved. 

Progression in time removes the evil col- 
lected through the habit of material thinking. 
Male and female Magdalens alike, under the 
sure law of construction, will drop the cumber- 
some caterpillar coat. The true work of 
reformation will be surer and quicker when 
men and women work side by side in its be- 
half. They must share equally in this beauti- 
ful cause. Humanity demands it. Imagine a 
woman at the bar of justice listening to a 
woman accused — a soul being tried in the bal- 
ance, as is the case always. Can you imagine 
her mind stained by immoralities which she 
is seeking to correct? Can you picture her 
in crowded court rooms of wreathing tobacco 
smoke furnished by curious spectators? No, 

35 



Wine for the Soul 

I am sure that you cannot picture the impos- 
sible. A woman capable of filling so impor- 
tant a place would demand a clean environ- 
ment and orderly atmosphere, and every man 
and woman entering the halls of justice, as all 
places of so much importance, would be in 
her presence looked upon as ladies and gentle- 
men until they were proven otherwise. 

The time is fast arriving when true reform- 
ers will enforce the law of ''Cleanliness is next 
to Godliness." Reformation is a philosophy 
of perpetual improvement, of changes, con- 
struction and progression. Its idea is not, as 
I have said, to punish, to condemn, to fight 
demons. Instead, it is to do a positive work for 
good. It is to instruct and reconstruct blighted 
lives and to build them into harmonial temples 
of thought, so that they may in this world, as 
well as in worlds to come, possess hospitable, 
happy homes. The work of the reformer is 
well on the way and none need feel discour- 
aged if they happen to glimpse the sea of de- 
spondency, for "the world-spirit is a good 
swimmer," and the storms and waves of a few 
people's mistakes cannot drown him nor keep 
back forever humanity from its sunny spheres 
of love and liberty. 



36 



THE POET'S EAR 

I have heard the voice of the birches, 
Have hushed to the Silence's song, 

Heard the whispering pines at night-fall, 
And the echoes of days far gone. 

I have read the thoughts of the flowers 
When the curtained Night dropped low, 

And the wind in plaintive sighing 
Complained where the grasses grow. 

I have heard the water breaking 

In music over the stones, 
And my soul has filled with sweetness 

In harmony with the tones. 

All these have I heard, day over, 
'Midst hurry and rush of life; 

And wondrous pure was the living. 
Thus rendered void of strife. 



37 




FINDING JOY IN THE COMMON 
THINGS 

"Here on the paths of every day — 
Here on the common human way 
Is all the stuff the gods would take 
To build a Heaven, 
To mould and make New Edens." 

i| S I lifted up my eyes on the still splen- 
did mountains in the distance this 
morning and listened to their wordless 
communion, I was brought face to face 
with the silent Guardian who keeps 
faithful account of all misunderstanding 
hearts. I felt a quickening of my brain, fol- 
lowed by an energy which lifted me out of 
dull materialism and I found myself touched 
by the miracle power in the Common things, 
which out of sheer stupidity we attempt to 
link with the ordinary. 

So few of us know that the common things 
of life bring us the only true love we ever 
realize. We are so misled by the artificial 
glare of things that we are unaware that our 
common life furnishes all the light and truth 
we actually possess. We do not know in our 
38 



Finding Joy in the Common Things 

life's upheaval, that the moods and changeless 
laws of common nature, lead to the unfold- 
ment of all that is great and good in us; that 
the flower-embroidered common earth, and the 
common radiant heavens inspire the mind with 
visions of hidden truths. 

From common experience, that strong link 
that holds together humanity, comes the secret 
joys that make life worth while. It is in the 
common sorrow that one finds the miracle of 
sympathy leads out to the miracle of peace, 
because sympathy .through common sorrow 
creates selflessness. 

The common worry thought and disappoint- 
ment hold their lessons of light. We finally 
drop each, because we are of the life eternal 
which is serene. In the great common thought 
of Love, we lose our spiritual near-sightedness. 
The great common life shows us hov/ to over- 
come our weaknesses, by boldly stripping from 
our personalities the garment of selfishness. 
This done, a true and spiritual vision sweeps 
our universe and we see things in their right 
proportion, and we awake to know that every 
disappointment has made us more than we 
were, not less. We know it by that feeling 
of a deeper confidence and courage that nerves 

39 



Wine for the Soul 

us to grapple with sorrow and loss that can 
finally mean nothing less than our gain. 

The common laws of life mould us into 
such perfection, that we learn, that by one 
touch of nature a kinship with all life is 
formed, and that by such relations a great 
Overwhelming Force protects equally all life. 
With this truth lodged deep in our conscious- 
ness, we know that our common days are full 
of the power of love. 

Ah, Love — the dear common power that 
holds together planets, and puts light and heat 
into suns; the power that builds the silent 
mountains and stores the green in the leaf ; that 
scatters the gloom of our doubting and restores 
lost friendships and reunites nations, and forms 
Declarations of Independence, and proclaims 
Liberty and Justice for all, that life may have 
free and perfect expression. 

Yes, these are some of the joys that come 
out of the miracle power of common love. 

Then who would hug an environment that 
would close them in from the dear common 
things of life? Rather let us all awake and 
rise to meet the dear common things so fraught 
with measureless energies of the spiritual uni- 
verse. Fearlessly let us proclaim: ''God put 
me among the dear common things, these com- 

40 



Finding Joy in the Common Things 

mon people, these common duties, here in the 
heart of common nature, with the strength that 
makes me capable of filling my place and 
knowing that there is no mistake. My life is 
in a splendid and proper setting. I will let my 
common days be beautiful with the joys of 
common cheer, and thereby fulfill here the 
purpose of my life. 



41 



SECRET SERMONS 

There are secret sermons everywhere ! 
They're hidden in the vap'rous air; 
They are in the rainbow tints afar — . 
Sweet sermons hid in the twinkling star. 
There are wondrous sermons in the sod, 
Telling man of the love of God. 
The roaring sound in the pink sea-shell 
Conveys a mystery as well. 
The stones, the trees, the running brooks 
Hold greater sermons than all the books. 
These secret sermons all might hear. 
Would they but poise their soul's fine ear 
And catch the hidden meanings well. 
Which preach of Love, but naught of Hell ! 



42 




THE RELIGION OF THE "BLUE- 
DOMER" 

Learn to look up. Thou hast not seen 
One-half the beauty of a summer's sky. 

All its soft depth of melting blue, 

Frames gorgeous pictures for thine eye. 

HEN I opened my eyes this morning 
to the light of summer dawn, and saw 
between drifting clouds the suffused 
color of the awakened heavens and 
heard the birds echo through the soft 
air their rapturous notes of freedom, my heart 
moved with unspeakable gratitude, and I 
thought how blessed it is, in this age of social, 
political and religious unrest, that one can 
touch nature's heart and feel peace and com- 
fort, though brief it be. And quickly there 
recurred to my mind a conversation of a few 
weeks ago that I had had with a man whom I 
had met for the first time. 

This man was truly a great specimen of 
physical strength. Nowhere about him, in 
form, step, voice or eye, was there the remotest 
intimation of physical imperfection. "A man 
of affairs," was my instant mental comment as 
I regarded him, and such he proved to be. 



Wine for the Soul 

Not a man of mediocre powers, but a man ac- 
complished in things of actual value. Among 
some of his worth-while achievements he had 
served as mayor to a thriving city, and I 
learned later from others that he had filled 
that office with high honor. 

But the thing that interested me about him 
most was his wonderful view of life. So unso- 
phisticated, so natural was he, that I could not 
keep from asking questions of him. The net 
result of the answers obtained was as follows: 
He belonged to the religion of "Bluedomers," 
whose temple of worship was ''The all-out-of- 
doors, covered with the blue sky. Here I wor- 
ship daily," he said. He had always been able 
to positively throw the cares of experience 
aside when he stepped out into this great 
temple; had always been able to admire the 
beauty of the world, and to enjoy with deep 
gratitude the good things that came his way. 

A worker from early boyhood, he had al- 
ways taken good care of himself, guarding his 
health, eating plain food, taking no strong 
drink, and giving himself necessary sleep; 
recognized the truth that man's two great 
enemies were hurry and worry. He had always 
aimed to keep proper step — not too fast — not 
too slow — a gait that could keep pace without 
44 



The Religion OF THE ''Blue DoMERs" 

drawing too heavily upon his reserve. He 
allowed only young feelings to dwell in his 
heart; he thought young thoughts, and those 
thoughts kept his mind bright and elastic; just 
as his prudence had kept his body sound and 
vigorous. He enslaved himself to nothing, but 
remained free, hopeful and full of cheer over 
which the years can never prevail. 

I said to myself, when this man had gone, 
"Blessed is the man who sees, for to him the 
world is beautiful." If only more people had 
the religion of the ''Bluedomer," truer wor- 
shipers would there be. There is within you 
something which longs to get back to nature 
and feel the pulsations of her hidden life. 
Why not cherish this yearning and, like the 
"Bluedomer," obey its call? Try it, anyway. 

Make it your happy religion to look daily 
with seeing eyes at the blue sky. Think that 
the world is not all discord. Let the bird's 
song rouse the harmony in your soul. Have 
ears for the voice of the mountain and forest, 
where laughing waters play and the great 
winds blow. Breathe deeply the fragrant, 
nourishing air. Don't be afraid of being too 
poetical — too idealistic. There is an intensity 
of pleasure one feels who lives near nature. 
He who is blind to her beauties and dead to 

45 



Wine for the Soul 

her harmonies, lives a starved, pinched life. 
But to live with nature's moods and change- 
less laws will lead to the unfoldment of all 
that's great and good. By looking at the beau- 
ties in life, man's heart is filled with love and 
honest desire and good will. 

Let 3^our religion claim association with the 
planets and stars, the earth and all it contains. 
Enlarge your vision. Enlist with the ''Blue- 
domer," and enter upon the discovery of new 
peace, new power, new joy, new love, and 
allow yourself to be touched by the divine 
fire that will quicken your tired, dull brain 
and make it responsive to an energy which lifts 
out of the confines of the mere physical and 
draws you close to the heart of being, thus 
filling you with gratitude for the priceless 
boon of life. 



46 



SLANDER 

When will the golden dawn arrive 
And the angel of charity come 

To seal the poisonous lips that hiss 
With Slander's venomous tongue? 

When will the tardy conscience wake 

To sympathy's kindly touch 
And yield that balm of mercy, which 

Its victim needs so much? 

Oh ! would that holy spirit now 

Pour forth into every heart 
The oil of Truth and Justice fair, 

Known to no slanderer's mart. 

Could Love abide where Slander dwells. 

All error then would cease ; 
And each would pray: "Thy kingdom come," 

As taught the Prince of Peace. 



47 




KEEP A GRATEFUL HEART 

"I praise Thee, while my days go on ; 
Through dark and dearth, through fire and frost — 
With emptied arm and treasure lost, 
I thank Thee while my days go on." 

)|N a beautiful old book which I have in 
my possession, written 169 years ago, 
and published in this country in 1809, 
entitled "Self Knowledge," runs this 
passage : "It doth not yet appear what 
we shall be, if we but keep a grateful heart." 
I am quite in accord with the thought that 
the whole process of mental adjustment and 
atonement can be summed up in one word, 
"Gratitude." 

Many people who order their lives rightly 
in all other ways are kept in poverty and other 
diseases by their lack of gratitude. Having 
received one gift from the hand of Love, they 
sever the wires which connect them with all 
Good, by failing to make acknowledgment. 

It is easy to believe that the person who is 

constantly grateful lives in closer touch with 

the Law of Plenty, than the one who never 

looks to the Great Giver in thankful acknowl- 

48 



Keep A Grateful Heart 

edgment. Gratitude alone can keep you look- 
ing upward and forward and prevent you fall- 
ing into the error of thinking in limitations. 
If you are constantly grateful, nothing nor any 
one can bar you from expressing the divinity 
within you and giving out a certain happiness 
that endears you to the multitude. 

Gratitude may not exempt you from trial 
and sorrow. To the truly grateful person, sor- 
row does not destroy happiness. Sorrow is 
one of the broad, deep channels through which 
the shining river of happiness flows. No one 
can know the real miracle of happiness until 
he has suffered. It takes a real Gethsemane 
of suffering to reveal to one how splendidly 
brilliant may shine the gifts of joy. 

The person who can gratefully accept what- 
ever comes into his life sees far beyond appear- 
ance. To such a person, beyond the cloud is 
always the silver lining. With heart and 
mind thus poised the cloud becomes as a shin- 
ing light along the path, and a song of praise 
is wafted along, which lulls the pain and the 
woe of experience, and the sojourner finds 
himself in an illumined world wherein thieves 
cannot enter and take from him the gift of 
happiness. 

Gratitude can be cultivated in the human 

49 



Wine for the Soul 

heart, for the seed is always there, ready for 
the gardener's hand. Instead of hammering 
with thoughts of vindictiveness at disappoint- 
ment as so many do, it is wiser and far safer 
to take count of the million of small blessings 
that come your way. Grateful people know 
well that around about their lives are sweet 
and pleasant joys. Daily happenings they are. 
They are cognizant that the simple greeting of 
the friendly ''Good Morning," could have as 
well been spoken to some other, as could have 
the many other courtesies which were chosen 
especially for them. 

So much indeed comes to the most remote 
person, for which to give thanks, and to re- 
mind him that ''There is a Soul at the center 
of Nature." Gratitude brightens the atmos- 
phere of the soul and wipes the fogs of delu- 
sions away, and causes the mind to look over 
Life's field and realize that all winding paths 
lead "Homeward." Gratitude sets one free of 
selfishness and imparts contentment, while one 
"Waits upon the Lord." It lends dignity, and 
stops automatic habits, and conserves nerve 
energy. Gratitude puts forces into your being 
that take the sting out of daily contacts. It 
tempers one with sweetness, and power that 
makes for high morality, noble character and 
50 



Keep a Grateful Heart 

radiates that happiness for which all the world 
is seeking. So I would say, thrill yourself 
with gratitude, and there will be no crisis too 
great, no hill too steep for you to surmount. 

For the things of life you do not understand, 
be grateful, for dear Love will, at the proper 
moment make all clear. For the things that 
you do understand be doubly grateful. By 
this attitude you will change gloom to glow, 
your loss to gain, and your pitying self will 
become like a flowing fountain of pleasure, 
peace and prosperity. 



51 



WHEN HEARTS ARE TRUE 

When hearts are true, as hearts should be, 
The world will move in unity. 
Hot hate, cold fear, and envy too. 
Will disappear, when hearts beat true. 
Fair Earth will join fair Heaven above 
When hearts have learned that truth is love. 



52 




IS POVERTY A DISEASE? 

'This mournful truth is everywhere confessed, 
Slow rises worth, by poverty depressed." 

HAVE been asked, and I think with 
all sincerity, ''Is poverty a disease?" 
With the same sincerity I answer, I 
believe it is, as much so as rheumatism 
or typhoid fever. 
It was related of King Solomon, who for 
centuries has stood as the type of wealth and 
wisdom, that he was offered the choice of su- 
preme good in any form he wished. He 
simply chose wisdom. In consequence of that 
gift, but not as a reward of merit, as has so 
long been thought, Solom^on's wealth became 
truly fabulous. 

One of the common beliefs of the present 
is that wealth is power. This is untrue. 
Wealth is only an evidence of power. He 
who produces wealth is greater than the thing 
produced. Truth wisely handled produces 
all wealth — health, peace, knowledge, opu- 
lence. We have in the word of the great 
apostle, ''Godliness is profitable unto all 
things, having promise of the life that now is 



Wine for the Soul 

and that which is to come." Yet we have con- 
tinued to associate disease and poverty with 
godliness, and have even professed them to be 
necessary to the evolution of righteousness. 

However, we are beginning to see that pov- 
erty and disease are one — springing from the 
same cause, subject to the same remedy, and 
that cause and remedy are within the indi- 
vidual himself, and proceed from a condition 
of mind. It is perhaps rather bold to say that 
poverty and disease are sins for which the suf- 
ferer is responsible. But with all sincerity I 
believe this to be true, brought about by our 
ignorance of the law of love or harmony. 

I have discovered in the science of mind, 
that the only real, lasting healing is developed 
out of personal responsibility, resulting from 
the absolute freedom of the individual. Man 
is a responsible being, hence man should be 
free from poverty, and all disease and impuri- 
ties developed by inharmonious thinking. 
Man is as he thinks. 

Whatever may be said in favor of poverty, 
the fact remains that it is not possible to live 
a complete or successful life if one is sick and 
poor. To possess a sound body, that body 
must have proper nourishment and comfort- 
able clothing and warm shelter. A certain 
54 



Is Poverty a Disease? 

amount of rest and recreation certainly are 
necessary to physical life, and our modern cus- 
toms are such that man must have money in 
order to get these. 

There are certain laws to be obeyed in order 
to acquire the good things of life, and once 
these laws are learned and adhered to, man 
will rise out of the disease of poverty and be- 
come truly righteous. 

There is one true and certain V\^ay to attain 
a rich, full life, and it is through thinking, 
desiring, imagining and doing. Imagination 
is the great creative force. It is the power of 
soul which finally brings all things to pass. A 
perfect body, quietly, calmly and faithfully 
imaged in the mind, w^ill produce the ideal in 
the physical. All wealth, lovely friends, tal- 
ents, a happy home, can likewise be brought 
into reality. 

Humanity is sadly out of tune because it has 
neglected to cultivate wealth through the soul 
senses. The materialist sees and feels only 
with the physical senses, which are very poorly 
trained servants. He lives in effects; isolated 
from causes. We are poor ''worms of the 
earth," because we have been cramped and 
mean in thought. 

We have reversed the teachings of truth. In- 

55 



Wine for the Soul 

stead of developing our soul-qualities and 
being free, we have imprisoned ourselves in 
limitations; have sought things, and not prin- 
ciples. We have dwarfed our imaginations, 
and have contented ourselves with the belief 
that "things" applied to this life, and right- 
eousness to another, all of which is unworthy 
of a humanity that lives and moves and has its 
being in God. Spirit, soul, mind and body are 
as closely linked as is life itself. In our silly 
definition of life, we have overlooked life's 
unity. 

I cannot bring myself to associate poverty 
and disease with infinite goodness any more 
than I can make up my mind to separate my- 
self from God's love and watchful care. To 
prepare ourselves to attract wealth we must 
first rid ourselves of all feverish, restless, 
anxious desire. Poise is power, the power 
necessary for the winning of any victory. We 
must discern the right and harmonious rela- 
tions of things. We must insist upon a larger 
interpretation of life. We must know that we 
are one with all, and that within ourselves lie 
all defeat and victory; that we are the "chosen 
one" and very dear to the heart of being, and 
that we need not beg and supplicate, for we 
live in the midst of health and plenty, heirs to 
56 



The Diver 

all that God is. Thought, thought, thought, is 
the golden key to wisdom's storehouse, but 
thought must be holy, wholesome and heav- 
enly. 



THE DIVER 

It Is the diver, strong and brave, 
Who dares to find his coral cave, 
Fearless and alone he seeks 
The treasured jewel of the deeps. 



57 




WHY SOME PEOPLE FAIL AND 
OTHERS SUCCEED 

"Measure your mind's height by the shade it casts." 

IE all know by observation that some 
people have a way about them that 
makes for their progress and success, 
while others have a way about them 
that repulses people and things neces- 
sary to the attainment of their desires, and we 
wonder why 'tis so, since we are taught that 
God is wholly impartial with his children. 

Among the first mentioned, are men and 
women who have come from the most ordinary 
conditions in life, starting out in the race with 
no financial assistance, few friends, little or no 
education, yet we see them occupying enviable 
positions. On the other hand, there are those 
who begin life with a fair amount of financial 
backing, influence and excellent education, yet 
who appear never to rise above the ordinary, 
often losing the financial help and influence 
with which they started. 

We hear certain people spoken of as being 
"unusually attractive," and when they come 
under our observation, we find that it is not 
58 



Why Some People Fail 

what they say, do, or know, that impresses us, 
but it is what they are! It is that 'Vay" they 
have — that subtle something within them that 
electrifies us and makes us turn from more 
intellectual minds and follow these human 
magnets with a willingness and pleasure. As 
we study these attractive people we find that 
more times than not they are all unconscious 
of the subtle influence they wield. Their na- 
tures are spontaneous and childlike. Of course, 
there may be exceptions. We must watch for 
this. We note also that these winning ones 
are invariably optimistic, cheerful and hope- 
ful. If they are confronted by misfortune and 
disappointment today, they are up bright and 
early on the morrow with renewed energies. 
Too, they most always have peculiarly clear 
and drawing voices. Oftentimes their manners 
are quiet and unassuming, conserving, as it 
were, their powers for a more proper time for 
use. They move around in their little planets 
as if assured of being linked securely to those 
planets necessary for their harmony and suc- 
cess. 

^'Magnetic people" we call these indi- 
viduals who marshal us into their selected 
paths of action. Spiritual science tells us that 
magnetism is an enveloping ethereal force and 

59 



Wine for the Soul 

emanates from the soul, and that it is warm 
and healing in its effects, and that electricity is 
chilling in its effect and belongs to the material 
organization — the body. Andrew Jackson 
Davis, in his great ^'Harmonial Philosophy," 
reiterates that magnetism belongs to the ele- 
ment of spirit and electricity to the material 
element, and the two combined make up the 
organization of man. He then says that mind 
can turn these creative energies into any chan- 
nel at any time, when it has learned the art 
of transmutation. We do know that all pow- 
erful forces rightly and intelligently used can 
work wonders of good. The foregoing state- 
ment may help us to somewhat understand 
why some people "freeze us out" and others 
warm and comfort us to the point that we are 
willing to make sacrifices in order to help 
them toward the things they desire. Whether 
they are aware of it or not, these magnetic 
beings have a way of keeping close in touch 
with that source of supply that furnishes them 
with many privileges and joys that make for 
vigorous living. If they did understand their 
precious powers, we can imagine what won- 
derful geniuses they would become. Ignor- 
ance certainly destroys marvelous forces in 
man, and it is the enemy to be overcome. 
60 



Why Some People Fail 

In an article by the noted writer, Owen S. 
Marden, 'Why So Many College Men Fail," 
might well apply to others who fail. In part 
he writes: ''They fail because they surrender 
their own individuality and become saturated 
with other men's thoughts; they mistake 
stuffed memory for education, knowledge and 
power, and through language and sciences be- 
come ignorant of human nature." If those of 
us who desire to increase our rate of mag- 
netism, that life power that makes for success 
along constructive lines, would keep our 
thoughts a fraction above the surrounding 
mental temperature, we would accomplish our 
endeavors. Certainly the spiritual forces 
within us do act upon the material things about 
us. It is this spirit force that filters through 
the particles of our being and makes us strong, 
healthy, athletic, attractive creatures, and, if 
we only had a mind to draw on this supply 
consistently and intelligently, we would be able 
to keep ourselves looking respectably youthful, 
active and useful, until such a time as we were 
willing and ready to make that glorious change 
of transition, where a greater usefulness is cer- 
tain to be ours. 

I verily believe, that no one while here need 
be repulsive, ugly, cross and forbidding. I 

61 



Wine for the Soul 

believe all can become radiant centers of won- 
derful attraction. But we must study the 
power of thought, and what sort of mental 
images we reflect on the canvas of life; 
whether they are tending to increase or de- 
crease our powers of attraction. If magnetism 
be an element of the spirit, we must then live 
nearer the spirit in consciousness, would we 
receive from the spirit the blessings of a well- 
rounded and wholly successful life. 



62 



TO BE AND NOT TO SEEM 

There's just one purpose in my life; 

To be, and not to seem; 
The burnt-out fire-crypts of my heart 

Have lost their crimson gleam. 

Life's holiest lessons all are mine; 

From touch so deep within 
They press to consciousness without 

And plead, their cause to win. 

Clean emptied of the worldly glare, 

My soul desires a test 
To prove its power, though often crushed 

In striving for the best. 

To know myself, and, knowing this, 

To be, and not to seem. 
Must be my soul's great ultimate 

Would I sweet Truth redeem. 

I'll bravely reach far out and give 

And grasp, and dare to be 
A royal spirit of that One 

Who mouldeth Destiny. 



63 



MAKE OF LIFE A MELODY 

Make of life a melody — 

Sweet and pure and strong — 

Then joyfully let it play 

Through God's world of song. 




I^Ol RADIANT light is he who can, in 
I^^S spite of suggestions of calamitous 
minds, look out of the windows of the 
soul and behold life full of beauty un- 
touched by emotional disturbances of 
hearts who have not as yet linked themselves 
with the ''choir invisible." 

When Jesus said, ''Let not your heart be 
troubled, neither let it be afraid,'' He meant 
that peace and joy and a life of sweet melody 
should be the result. Certainly it is in the 
reach of every one to be at peace and express 
life in its fullness. And he who would wrest 
from the least of God's children that confi- 
dence and trust, built up by the soul and which 
frees from selfishness and fear, is guilty of a 
serious wrong for which he must pay a price. 

Every individual is the maker of his own 
paradise. The peace that Christ gave to us for 
an everlasting possession is guarded and sus- 
64 



Make of Life a Melody 

tained only by our thought. He who fixes his 
mind steadfastly upon making life what he 
desires it to be, will in due time realize the 
product of his desires. It is the music within 
ourselves that creates the music without. A 
thousand roses bloom at dawn for those who 
love roses. A thousand angels bless the saint 
who walks love's highway. And the faithful, 
fearless one knows quite well that the waters 
of life, disturbed by the pebbles thrown from 
the hands of the ignorant passerby, will, by 
the natural law of tranquility, resume their 
pure state of harmony. Intelligent minds 
know that life is what one makes of it. God 
is in all things and acts in every possible way. 

The fear of God brings no blessing to any 
living thing. It is the law of love that per- 
forms all perfect work and brings to the hu- 
man family the joys and gladness it craves. 
As thought is first, the discouraged must lift 
their thought to the plane of the beautiful. 
Think not that the vanished years took away 
your capacity for the best in life, for they have 
not. The years are all alike and they take 
nothing of vital need from the soul that other 
years do not bring. Life is going on forever 
and does not end at the gate of earthly transi- 

65 



Wine for the Soul 

tion. Let no one frighten you nor retard your 
progress with fears conjured up in the shadows 
of a human intellect. 

Spirit alone can interpret life and God, and 
in spirit do you live, move and have your 
being. Throw open the windows of your 
splendid mind and bask in the sunlight of life. 
Make the most of yourself today by clear and 
orderly thinking and lay hold on the joy of the 
precious moment and the next will be beauti- 
fully begun, no matter when you quit this 
plane. Make yourself the perfect being that 
you are and stand upright, and the whole of 
your life will be a beautiful symphony. Yes, 
live in the sunshine and it will invigorate your 
body and vitalize your mind. 

There may be much misery in our land, but 
we cannot lessen it by adding more. It is only 
by being brave and cheerful that we may be 
useful and gain the lessons in store for us. 
''Our progress," says Emerson, "comes through 
a succession of teachers, each of whom seems 
at the time to have a superlative influence, but 
it at last gives place to a new." Frankly let us 
accept it all and be grateful for what it gives. 
Let us not let go of it until the blessing be won, 
and after a short season the dismay will be 
overpast, the excess of influence withdrawn, 

66 



Make of Life a Melody 

and there will be no longer an alarming 
meteor, but one bright star, shining serenely in 
our heaven and blending its light with our day. 

He who forms the habit of looking for the 
bright and happy side of things, who sees the 
gorgeous color in the grass, the sunlight in the 
flowers, who hears the melody of the robin, 
and the sermons in the stones, and realizes the 
good in everything, sculptures his own face 
into beauty and adds a perfect grace to his 
being. Such an one can never be detached 
from eternal life. 

All one's life is music, if one but touches the 
notes rightly. It is the natural state of man to 
be free, happy and harmonious, and he can be 
the moment he tunes the instrument of self 
to the keynote of love. It is in this wise he 
makes of life a continuous melody. 



67 



FRIENDSHIP'S RECALL 

If you have lost a friend, dear one, 

By sharp or hasty word. 
Go, call him to your heart again, 

Let pricie no more be heard; 
Recall to him those happy days, 

Too beautiful to last, 
And ask, if words should cancel years 

Of trust and friendship fast? 

Be true, despite your foolish pride, 
Before all hope is gone ; 

Enthrone your friend within your heart- 
He's missed your love too long! 

Let not reproach, with frowning gaze. 
Knock at your door in pain. 

But nobly say : "I'll bring him back. 
My once-loved friend, again." 

And joy, sweet joy, will fill your breast. 

And life will brighter shine; 
You've to your better self been true, 

Hope's roses round you twine; 
So, if you've lost a friend, dear one. 

Call I if he answers not, 
'Tis then his loss; your duty's done 

And will not pass forgot. 
68 




THE FORGIVING SPIRIT 

"They most live who most enjoy, 
Most love and most forgive." 

ESUS, our great teacher, who knew so 
well the art of living, never failed to 
urge upon the minds of men the law of 
love and tolerance and the forgiveness 
of wrongs committed. In the realm of 
permanent ideals none scintillate more beau- 
tifully than the sweet spirit of forgiveness. So 
strong and powerful is this spirit, that it sweeps 
hate ofif its material pedestal and covers it with 
the mantle of forgetfulness. This lovely spirit 
has set its altar up in the hearts of those who 
have overruled the flesh and its dark forces and 
who are able to understand the meaning of 
Christ, love and life. 

If you will carefully observe unforgiving 
persons, you will find that they possess unnat- 
ural features. In their eyes is a cold, steely 
glitter. About their mouths plays a cruel, 
cynical expression. Their faces generally have 
a frosty, chilly, pinched look. They have not 
that tenderness of expression that one expects 
to see. They live in a frigid zone of mentality, 

69 



Wine for the Soul 

weighted with garments of unreality. No 
paint, no powder, no masque, nor any amount 
of material wealth can hide the marks with 
which they have stamped themselves. 

Unforgiveness is the twin sister of hate; and 
hate is godlessness, and ignorance is mistress 
of them both. It is a thoughtful opportunity 
to sometimes watch with what vehemence and 
seeming satisfaction some persons express their 
contempt for another who has roused their dis- 
pleasure. The one who sees the error of it is 
indeed grateful for the realization of "How 
blessed are they who overcome self," and who 
can follow the independent path of the Holy 
Spirit which builds up the structure of being 
with love's healing forces. 

If persons who stiflfen themselves and say, 
"I cannot forgive!" actually knew that through 
this stubborn willfulness they are losing the 
light from their eyes and that a darkness, 
darker than accumulated midnights, is hov- 
ering about their souls, perhaps they would 
make a supreme effort to understand the real 
meaning of, "As you sow, so must you reap." 

Certainly persons who indulge in conten- 
tions, in "hitting back," declaring murderous 
intentions, sometimes refusing to speak to their 
neighbor, whom they are commanded to love 
70 



The Forgiving Spirit 

as themselves, are sipping poison and creating 
mental microbes that w^ill devour all that is 
worth living for, and from which even the 
transitional state cannot free them — not until 
they themselves turn the current of thought. 
There is a Hermetic axiom — it is very old — 
which says, ^Tt is not what another does to me 
that counts, but it is what I do to another." 

No one who respects the truths taught by the 
gentle Nazarene can hold in his mind condem- 
nation of his brother, nor even think that there 
is a lasting place of darkness for him. The 
Nazarene's example throughout His career, 
so far as we know, was clean, pure service. 
Through the law of love He recognized no 
enemies. As a Hermetic, He was calm and 
dignified, used no slang phrases, but was care- 
ful of every word that fell from His lips. With 
the cross on His shoulders. He conversed 
peacefully and lovingly with the multitude 
who insulted Him on the way to Calvary. 
Kind and forgiving to the very end was His 
way. When we as His disciples learn the art 
of thinking, we will know how ridiculous, 
how very, very foolish and unworthy is the 
idea of resentment. We shall know that poise 
is all the self-protection necessary. Yes, we 
will one day learn, as Emerson says, that our 

71 



Wine for the Soul 

own orbit is all our task. How we move and 
act in it, will prove life as can no one outside 
of it. 

If love is the fulfilling of the law, then the 
unforgiving nature can have no part in it. In 
love there is no place for resentment or self- 
seeking; no place for haughtiness nor any 
egotism. To be highly respected of God and 
man we can allow no frivols or false standards 
or doctrines to steal from us any spiritual en- 
joyments that are meant to strengthen us and 
help us to stand out as true individuals in a 
time that demands men and women; men and 
women who can lay aside all differences in 
that spirit of loyalty to the point of saying, 
''Forgive my mistakes; they are transitory and 
must not disrupt the good work that we are 
set to do together." 

When we are spiritually sound no thought 
or word or act of another can arouse vibrations 
of pain. Co-operation is the need of the hour 
and can be established only by men and women 
of loyal natures, who are dominated by the 
spirit that can forgive seventy times seven 
times, and more, if necessary, and be kind. 



72 



MY ROSARY 

Let the beads of my life be 
Thoughts of love, entirely free 
From strife and selfishness 
And all which fails to bless. 

Let the central thread — my heart — 
Be strung with truth. Let me impart 

Noble words while here 

In this glorious sphere. 

For well I know the after-years 
Ne'er will give me grief and tears, 
If now my rosary bind 
Loving thoughts and kind. 

THE PENETRANT LIGHT 

There is no life, however dark, 

But has some ray of light; 
There is no soul so steeped in sin 

But has some thought of right. 

No heart can drift so far away. 

E'en though on evil bent. 
But that a light will penetrate 

And utter harm prevent. 



73 



THE MEANING OF BROADMIND- 
EDNESS 




OME people have peculiar ideas of 
what constitutes a Broad Mind. It is 
often sadly confused with lax-minded- 
ness. I have listened to some very con- 
fused thoughts on the subject, some of 
which, by their repulsiveness, sent a quiver 
around the region of my heart. 

If some people's advice to ''get out in the 
world and broaden your mind," was obeyed, 
certainly the pedestal of Morality would 
crumble beneath us. To have a broad mind, 
does not mean to believe in everything, but it 
means to have power to see the Right, the True 
and the Good everywhere. It means to sep- 
arate the wheat and the chaff in every depart- 
ment of life. The broad mind is awake to the 
purest, the best and the most beautiful in every 
sphere of human experience. The broad mind 
is also aware of that which is inferior — that 
which is destructive, unclean, and positively, 
though forgivingly, rejects it. 

"Broad minds" must learn that the statement 
of "All Is Good" is, under certain interpreta- 
74 



The Meaning OF Broad mindedness 

tions, a whole truth, but as usually interpreted, 
it is one of the most dangerous half truths. To 
say, that all that is real is good, would be stat- 
ing the truth, but to say or think, that all tem- 
porary conditions are also good would not be 
true, consequently very unsafe to take into 
one's daily living. 

I have known many so-called broadminded 
persons, persons who accept everything as ''all 
right," to fall into some very disastrous pits. 
The truth is, that many such people start out 
on Life's highway, with no self-knowledge, 
little experience and rush into effects, blind to 
cause, and, in such a state of mental fomenta- 
tion, lose themselves in the whirlpool of de- 
structive thought, until common sense comes to 
their rescue. 

There is something more in life to the truly 
broadminded person than those things and con- 
ditions that appeal to the physical senses. 
There are faculties in mind that far transcend 
the ones we usually employ in our effort to be 
broad. And since it is our purpose in God's 
great plan to make the fullest and the best use 
of everything that we may possess or develop, 
nothing can be more important than to know 
what to do with those things that lie just be- 
yond the limitations of the present. 

75 



Wine for the Soul 

Many may say ''One world at a time," and 
refuse to recognize what the physical senses 
cannot now comprehend, but all must sooner 
or later realize that no step forward was ever 
taken without transcending the ordinary and 
penetrating the unknown. So much of this 
"broadmindedness" which preys upon the 
world is known to be, by higher developed 
minds, sheer narrow-mindedness. 

In practical every day life, no progress is 
possible unless we strive to go beyond the 
ordinary present, because in all things the 
greater lies always above us and beyond our 
physical means. There is a superior reality 
for the broad mind to comprehend before it 
can yield a sweet satisfaction. No mind can 
broaden with the common husks of mortality 
for food. To develop a broad mind is to un- 
derstand the different phases of life about us, 
what they have in actual worth, how weak or 
strong they make us, how much lasting power 
they really give us. 

It is with clear understanding that we learn 
the truth of broadmindedness — and its moral 
efifect upon our lives and the lives of those who 
intimately touch us, and upon society gener- 
ally. Through a properly broadened mind we 
learn how to use things and how to gain the 
76 



The Meaning of Broadmindedness 

power to produce what results we may desire. 
It is every one's opportunity and right to 
live a well rounded, clean, wholesome life, and 
only such a life can be considered as belonging 
to a broad mind. All others are false and 
dangerous, for which no well disposed person 
can dare pay heed. Only persons who live, 
think and work in harmony with God's pure 
will can broaden their lives to the degree of 
doing everything that is necessary to the fulfill- 
ment of that obligation which life has imposed 
upon them. 



77 



ACROSS THE PATH 

'Tis just a little way across the road to Kindness — 
Just a little way where we can lose our blindness; 
The blindness of distrust with which we treat each 

other; 
If we would cross this path, we'd often meet a 

brother. 

'Tis just a little way across where Love is call- 
ing; 

Just a step or two — no more — where tears are 
falling; 

Just a tender beating of hearts, and hate gives 
way — 

Oh, then's the time to act, while Love is holding 
sway! 

So easy then it is to cross the path to Kindness; 
So simple then it is to lose our stubborn blindness, 
When burdened hearts to us in love and pain are 

calling; 
"Come across the way, for there sad tears are 

falling; 

You are the needed one — come on across the line, 
The path lies open wide for thee and thine." 
'Tis just a little way across the path to Kindness — 
Just a little way, where all may lose their blind- 
ness. 
78 




KINDNESS A FINE ART 

T was delightful to hear a sweet-faced 
woman remark at a literary club — 
while she plied her knitting needles to 
a gray scarf — that polite people are al- 
ways kind and that there is no excuse 
for persons to be sharp of tongue, even when 
they are compelled to deliver sharp truths. 

In my investigations I have found that a 
marvelous strength lies back of a kind heart. 
I am not referring to that spasmodic, incon- 
sistent sort of kindness that sometimes exudes 
itself for selfish reasons, but I am speaking of 
that pure, sincere quality that cannot be coun- 
terfeited ; that which has the Midas touch that 
enriches life and proves a balm in Gilead. 

I am certain that the majority of thinkers 
will agree with me, when I say that the best- 
looking people are the kindly disposed. Some 
of them may not at first sight appeal to the eye, 
but as you associate with their beauty of dispo- 
sition, and fall under the influence of their 
thoughtful natures, you gradually find your- 
self admiring their unusual grace of form and 

79 



Wine for the Soul 

feature. There is just that something about 
them which is alluring, and you feel so safe 
and at ease in their protective atmosphere. 

At times it may seem a very small thing to 
give or receive a kindness, because it appears 
to be something belonging to the common or- 
der of things. True, it amounts to just a 
thought expressed in a word or an act, but oh, 
my! the untold joy it often brings. Well do 
we know that this dear old world is held in 
place, preserved from chaos, by the law of 
kindness. And those persons who are respon- 
sive to this law are the world's artists. For, like 
the artists who paint themselves into their 
works, kind persons are ever putting them- 
selves and their own characters into the lives 
of those about them, although it may not al- 
ways appear so. The spirit of kindness in con- 
tact with a sharp tongue, may seem to lose its 
power, but the influence of love is far more 
positive than any apparent antagonist. 

The gross, the bizarre, the sensitive, the deli- 
cate, will all come out on the canvas of life and 
in tones you cannot mistake. The face, the 
texture of the skin, the light in the eyes, the set 
of the lips, the curve of the chin, all index the 
character of the artist. You need no "Woman 
of Endor" to tell you who is who. He who 
runs may read. It is all very simple. 
80 



Kindness a Fine Art 

And culture, of which we hear so much, un- 
less centered in the heart and mind, is not cul- 
ture, and can never bring that soul-satisfying 
joy for which all yearn. Those possessing real 
culture are never idle, lonely or forgotten, but 
are always in demand. So strong and reliable 
are they, that the world is ever ready to shower 
upon them honor and distinction. Organized 
and disorganized minds alike seek them. They 
are like a balance wheel in the whirl of life. 
They can shoulder the worries and misfortunes 
of others without assuming the conditions of 
such. They know how to keep themselves 
free, and the poise and patience of these kindly 
beings make them the saviours of the world. 
This great truth was made plain by Buddha 
Gautama, at the close of his spiritual life, 
when he was asked by his faithful disciple, 
Ananda, who would be the next great Teacher, 
and how would he be known. Buddha's reply 
was that he would be known as Maltreya, 
which means, he whose name is Kindness. 
Those who review the life of Jesus know that 
in every instance, even when sharp truths de- 
manded emphasis, Buddha's prophecy proved 
true. The quiet, peace-loving Man of Gali- 
lee demonstrated culture in the highest sense 
and gave us the most beautiful lesson in 
kindness, which he practiced in all sincerity 

81 



Wine for the Soul 

and truth, and which has made humble fisher- 
men and kings honor him for almost two thou- 
sand years. 

Kindness is one of Wisdom's ways, which 
knows no age and heeds no time. It can be 
easily cultivated in the secret chambers of the 
heart, and given outwardly in the most prac- 
tical way, and I fearlessly state that there is no 
living thing that will not in time respond to 
its magnetic touch of Love, and in turn give 
back to life its refining influence, thus bearing 
me out, that Kindness is a fine art — a very fine 
art. 

PROTECTION 

I'll make my heart a little bower, 

For sunny glints to play ; 
And when the dark comes on tomorrow, 

My feet, Life's path will ray. 



82 



IN THE HEART'S TWILIGHT 

Our deepest life is when we are alone. 

'Tis then we live the best, think thoughts most 
true. 
Here, in the mystic abyss of the soul, 

We clearer see through creeping shadows blue. 

We think of loved ones, and softly they draw 
nigh; 
'Tis often with half-pain we feel them near. 
Here in the twilight of the heart we know. 

There is something truer, something doubly 
dear. 

In this magic solitude, alone, 

We feel the hero touch of our beloved friend, 
That each living contact robbed us in its life. 

And makes us know at last, true love can never 
end! 



83 




IN THE DESERT OF WAITING" 

"With aching hands and bleeding feet, 

We dig and heap — lay stone on stone. 
We bear the burden and the heat, 

Of the long day and wish 'twere done. 
Not until the hours of light return. 
All we have built do we discern." 

HERE is not one in life's great broth- 
erhood who is spared the griefs and 
discouragements in the ''Desert of 
Waiting," a place where all at some 
time are destined to dwell. 
As we wend us along its weary way, we meet 
the many who are worn by the stamp of trial 
and test. It is by our own baffled hopes and 
heartaches that we are brought in closest sym- 
pathy with our discouraged brothers. 

On some of the faces we meet in "The Des- 
ert of Waiting," are seen the lines of patient 
resignation, on others bitterness and rebellion. 
And as we behold them, we are reminded of 
that inspired little book called "In the Desert 
of Waiting," and wish that the disheartened 
one might rest in the midst of the Desert and 
review its beautiful and hopeful pages. The 
lesson that it teaches is full of wisdom for those 
84 



In the Desert of Waiting 

who are struggling with coarse materialism 
and untruth. 

How blind we are oftimes. How unmind- 
ful are we that the spirit of love is sitting 
nearer us than hands and feet — here in our 
'^Desert of Waiting." It takes the illumined 
soul to see God in the cloud and to hear His 
footsteps in the desert, and know that often 
man is nearest his own best good right where 
good seems not to be. When man wakes to 
this illumination the desert becomes abloom 
with fairest blossoms, and cooling streams 
thread their way across the scorching sands; a 
new power of interpretation voices the strange 
waiting and in the distance loom the gates of 
the City of the Real, where each will arrive 
with a clear understanding in due time — after 
the lessons are learned. 

While we wait for this spiritual illumina- 
tion, we must not allow our strength to go from 
us. We must be brave and strong. Through 
the hard experience of waiting we must think 
clearly of right. For it is through clear think- 
ing that we can act promptly and decisively 
and win the mastery over false thought. It is 
through thinking clearly that understanding 
comes. We cannot afford to yield our strength 
to the desert, for we must gain the beautiful 
city ahead. 

85 



Wine for the Soul 

Love and a willingness to serve those less 
strong than we, will add to our strength in 
attainment. In the Desert where hard lessons 
are learned, we feel very often that we are 
wasting our time. We allow ourselves to 
think, as we labor for others and give them 
the best we have, and receive in return so much 
unkindness, that love's labor is lost. It takes 
a great soul, endowed with much courage, to 
be patient at such a time. But the great first 
cause — the power behind all things — will 
work all out with honor and glory. 

The gift of 'The Desert of Waiting," with 
its trying experiences, is the lesson of patience, 
one of the strongest endowments of the soul. 
Patience is the guardian angel at the door of 
peace. We are taught always to look for the 
light, for guidance for the law of conduct, not 
in the outward world at all, but in the inner 
chamber of the heart. Peace or happiness 
cannot be found in any ceremonial observance, 
but it is found in a certain manner of thinking, 
in a mode of feeling and behaving inwardly. 
Being tender and truthful, forgiving and 
grateful for friendships in times of need are 
the agents of the soul which liberate us from 
''The Desert of Waiting," and bring us at last 
to realize our highest desires. 

86 



WHEN A MAN IS DOWN 

When a man Is down, the thing he needs 
Is a ready Hft, not prayers and creeds. 
When he is on his feet again 
Your prayer, your creed, will be made plain. 

A hand extended is worth more 
To one who's down, than saintly lore; 
'Tis the lift he needs, to set him free — 
Mere words are but a mockery. 

Our prayers and praise may all sound nice, 
But a loving hft is the best advice; 
It raises more, when a man is down. 
Than the glowing lure of a royal crown. 



87 




BUILDING A CITY BEAUTIFUL 

I built me a city beautiful; a Diana's temple fair. 

It was strong and white and solid ; not a weak spot anywhere. 

Its cornerstone was "Morals," blocked out of Life itself, 

Through toil and pain and sorrow, in a fight against mad pelf, 

I saw it grow in splendor, as a lily pure and strong. 

And to it safely gathered a wondrous, mighty throng. 

HERE is no person who would not 
want to boast himself a resident of a 
beautiful city, peopled with alert, pro- 
gressive souls who stand for all that is 
high-classed and good. And well does 
the thinking one know that such a city is cre- 
ated through physical and moral treatment. 

Just now there seems to be hovering over 
every American city and town a spirit of un 
usual intelligence, asking, ''How can local 
crime and poverty be extirpated?" Surely this 
question is an exciting appeal to the sympa- 
thies of every individual, and puts the sincere 
reformer to a most serious test. But the prac- 
tical reformer who strives to live the true life 
of home, city and government knows very well 
that his duty is to live and exercise certain 
principles that are innately his. And unless 
his home and his city reflect such principles of 



Building a City Beautiful 

love and reformation he has failed greatly in 
those principles for which he should account, 
and for which home, city and country cannot 
excuse him, in his failure. 

Certainly this is a time of self-analysis and 
the realization of the necessity of unity, 
wherein lies the strength to develop all great 
things. This is the age when the idealist must 
walk boldly out in flesh and blood and voice 
those things so long pictured in his mind, of 
cities fair and beautiful. It is high time for 
him to live in deeds and exemplification of 
fraternal love and distributive justice, and 
thus become the practical reformer. Such a 
course of action on the part of the reformer 
will make it hard to live out uniformly the 
principles of justice which reside in his soul. 
But nevertheless we have had, and have now, 
a number of examples of practical philan- 
thropy. 

The city beautiful must have for its founda- 
tions brave hearts and truth-loving minds; 
minds that are clean in their own thought 
world. It is only such hearts and minds that 
can free the streets and by-places of mendicants 
and impostors, vice and ignorance. Such high- 
classed minds banded together form what 
every city must have — would it grow in sym- 

89 



Wine for the Soul 

metry and grace — a ^^moral police," who, as a 
body of men and women — yes, women — will 
do a positive good for humanity and for the 
sake of principle. This moral police must work 
as a part of the legal or municipal police. 
Clergymen and laymen, good men and good 
women and all benevolent societies who desire 
the good of a city, must compose this Christ- 
like band of brothers. The impulse of hon- 
esty and true justice for all must dilate their 
hearts and energize their movements. Let the 
moral police be spiritually remunerated with 
an internal consciousness of well doing. Let 
their pecuniary remuneration flow from the 
new streams which will be thrown open and 
compose the copious contributions to the new 
movement. This cleansing body of men and 
women should not number one biased or 
hysterical mind. 

No ^'clean up" of a city can be cleaner than 
the minds that are working in the process. 
For the sake of the general health, refinement 
and civilization, let the entire city be cleansed 
and beautified; let the street-sweeper be justly 
remunerated for his labor. Remember that 
poverty breeds vice. Let occupations be so 
well selected and so well executed as to encour- 
age the laborer to do honor to the executive 

90 



Building a City Beautiful 

committee and make proud the spirit of refor- 
mation everywhere. 

America is now most truly the lighthouse of 
the world and should become its example. The 
clouds of old things are passing, and her intel- 
ligence, freedom and generosity and sparkling 
spirituality must bless the unadvanced multi- 
tudes, and accomplish that which her democ- 
racy seeks to adjust. But certainly America's 
home cities must reflect that high standard of 
morality and beauty that will lift those cities 
and nations beneath her. Out of our American 
hearts must flow those divine treasures of truth, 
that will build lasting and strong our own 
cities. It is a delicate task, but a very possible 
one. One to be most carefully thought out, 
and backed by an enthusiasm not born of wild 
excitement of a day's duration. 

We must remember that flowers must bloom 
in our minds first, before they can go as gifts 
to our neighbor. So runs the law of order, in 
the individual, the home and our cities beau- 
tiful. 



91 



LEARN TO LOOK UP 

Learn to look up. You have not known 
One-half the beauty of a summer sky. 

All its soft depths of melting blue 

Frames gorgeous pictures for your eye. 

Learn to look up, and list the tone 
Awaking from the vast unknown; 

But nestle near to Nature's breast 
And find in her a joyous rest. 

Learn to look up, till you have glanced 
Into the Face that lights the day; 

Then never will your sg_irit fret. 

Your feet shall never lose their way. 



92 




NEVER BECOME DISCOURAGED 
WITH YOURSELF 

"Courage — an independent spark from Heaven's bright throne, 
By which the soul stands raised, triumphant, high, alone." 

N Striving to become acquainted with 
one's self, it is wonderful to see how 
many sides there are to us. Different 
experiences call out different expres- 
sions of our nature. To ''Know Thy- 
self," is indeed a marvelous undertaking. 
Truly we are each a wealth of hidden treas- 
ures, but it seems sometimes, as a young man 
said to me, that we turn out a lot of useless 
rubbish. So does the gold mine. The latent 
forces within us seem to have so arranged mat- 
ters, yet it is all right, for Truth can work us 
nothing but good. Raphael needed the com- 
mon clay out of which to work his immortal 
glories of art. And no doubt the master 
sculptor made many mistakes and spoiled 
many pounds of clay before he forced through 
it the ideal toward which he was working. But 
we have no record of his discouragements. 
He kept right on with the ''common clay," 
building stronger and surer and more beauti- 

93 



Wine for the Soul 

ful the images of his wondrous mind. Had 
Raphael succeeded at once, the world would 
have never known the many sides to his art- 
nature. And so it is with us all. 

There are inexhaustible storage batteries 
in every human being, and it is knowing our- 
selves through experience, through contact 
with life's many phases, that we find out that 
nature has endowed us richly. We need all 
the experiences that come to us — all the sides 
to our natures to help us to unfold the soul's 
powers. And, when we resolve to defy defeat 
and smile at dangers, nothing can long stand 
in our way to victory. 

More and more I am convinced, that man 
is the most unexplored of all Realities. He 
has scarce begun to touch the stars in their 
orbits and place them in view by his creative 
genius. With mind thoroughly unfettered, 
man will launch himself upon the shoreless 
sea of Knowledge where his Great Spirit will 
unlock all the secrets of creation. He will 
prove himself unconquerable, and will become 
in time a miracle of achievement. 

No difference what happens to you, don't 

allow yourself to become discouraged, for you 

never can tell what moment your ''lucky star" 

will burst upon the horizon of your being. 

94 



Never Become Discouraged With Yourself 

Whatever you are trying to become of use to 
the w^orld, take your desire and create it into 
reality. Lift your heart and mind from the 
tomb of limitation, disappointment, despair 
and doubt. These are infections of Fear. Let 
the shining light of Inspiration filter through 
your sluggish energies. How^ever crude, 
rough, starved or crushed your desires may be, 
set your imagination to w^ork and visualize 
them w^ith the divine illumination of yourself, 
and enliven them with faithful w^ork. 

Life's sun is but risen for you. You are not 
too old and played out. Keep your desires 
high, noble and strong, and youth, vigor and 
endurance will return to you, and new king- 
doms will open their spaces to you. Obsess 
yourself with no notion that you can't perform, 
or that you are not free to attain the heights. 
You are your own victim ; no one can hold you 
back, if you will to go forward. 

Become acquainted with yourself, for it is 
the purpose of your life. The many sides to 
you possess marvelous possibilities. Only be- 
lieve in them. Life has need of you, so stop 
doubting. 

Arm yourself with sincerity, courtesy, kind- 
ness and joy, and with your desires march up- 
ward and onward, an inspiration to the world 
in which you are privileged to live. 

95 



WHAT DOESN'T PAY 

It doesn't pay to storm and fret 
And kindness in your heart forget; 
It doesn't pay to hunt the wrong 
In erring friends who pass along. 

It doesn't pay to say mean things — 
They're sure to hurt hke adder stings. 
It doesn't pay to frown on those 
Who've drunken deep of bitter woes. 

It doesn't pay to storm and fret 
Nor darken life with vain regret; 
But this one thing I know and say : 
Be tender, kind; for that does pay! 



96 




THE GREATER WEALTH 

SPLENDID editorial of recent date 
tells about a man who buried his soul 
while he went out into the world to 
achieve a fortune and satisfy his ambi- 
tion. It goes on to say that the heart 
of this money-getting man, "whose eyes were 
fixed on gold," was painfully empty, even after 
he had gained all that he had buried his soul 
for. In the end it was revealed that this man's 
soul by being covered up so long with the dirt 
of selfishness had died, leaving him void of 
the finer senses of feeling and self-respect. 

This is one instance of many where the 
acquirement of money causes man to lose the 
real appreciation of wealth, instead of gaining 
the joy that should come with it. 

Money or any material thing sought without 
the pure association of the soul and sanction 
of the spirit, will certainly prove coals of fire 
in the hands of one, that will burn and scorch 
and sear the soul to the degree that he will 
lose all in his nature that once was good and 
true. And to make up for it he must try the 
journey all over sometime, somewhere. 

97 



Wine for the Soul 

There is wealth for all. Plenty for every 
living being. But there is a royal vs^ay to it. 
That w^ay is the w^ay of truth, vs^hich provides 
life, light, love and goodness, and the heart 
that honors these cannot miss the v^ay to 
vs^ealth. When one follov^s this path, one w^ill 
have no occasion to be frightened from it. 
They know that this path is safe and certain. 
Neither will they fear to speak out boldly in 
defense of it if the occasion demands, though 
the wolves of materialism howl outside the 
path. 

Invariably does God present each with a 
gift as a means to guide him along the royal 
way. If it be used to the honor and glory for 
which it is intended, it will provide all neces- 
sary comforts for the individual while he 
accumulates the greater wealth. Moreover it 
will prove a protection in all tests and trial. 

In the fullness of the word, success means 
to come into possession of a well-formed char- 
acter; to be able to discriminate between that 
which raises and lowers one's being; to be able 
to keep a firm grip on the pure and lofty things 
of life, despite opposing forces. To do this 
takes strength. This is the process in the at- 
tainment of the greater wealth. 

Money getting in itself is not wealth. It has 
98 



The Greater Wealth 

been well called unhealthy when it impov- 
erishes the mind and dries up the sources of 
the spiritual mind; when it extinguishes the 
sense of beauty, art and poetry; when it blunts 
the moral senses and confuses the distinction 
between right and wrong; when it stifles out 
religious impulses and blots out all thoughts 
of God from the soul. 

It is sometimes of God's mercy that men in 
their eager pursuit of wealth are baffled. They 
are like a locomotive running down hill, to 
apply the brakes is unpleasant, but it helps to 
keep the engine on the track and saves from 
destruction. 

The greater wealth is sure to come by the 
proper application of one's gifts to daily op- 
portunities. With pure motives behind, honest 
work is bound to bring results. If results do 
not project themselves to the surface at once, 
have faith and know that like the sap in the 
tree they are gradually rising to burst into 
perfect splendor at the right time. 

We do know there are so many things that 
are intrinsically far more valuable than just 
money. To be able to keep a lovely spirit 
that helps you smile at annoyances and petty 
troubles that assail you, is wealth in itself. A 
genial, jolly person can smooth the roughest 

99 



Wine for the Soul 

temper of the richest man, provided the man 
is a man and not a mistake. All honor to those 
in every walk of life who speak truthfully and 
earnestly in defense of right, inspired by the 
hope of rewards other than money or popular 
favor. These are the men and, women who 
build the world. They labor in their ordinary 
vocations with no less zeal because they give 
time and attention to higher things. 

By all means get wealth. It is rightfully 
yours. But get that wealth that has in it a 
clean and happy heart and a peaceful mind, 
for with this greater wealth you become the 
greater being. 



100 



FORGET— REMEMBER 

Forget the* word of yesterday 

That hurt your gentle heart; 
Hold in its place the tender smile 

That caused sweet joy to start. 

Forget the cold look you received 

While passing on your way; 
Think rather of the loving word 

That cheered that dreary day. 

The world holds far more love than hate, 

If we will pause to find, 
And the chilling little word or look — 

We should not stop to mind. 



101 



PARENTHOOD 

The heart of Parenthood is Love. 
Its message is, "Guard, Guide and Pray, 
And when life's earthy curtain falls, 
There will be Peace, sweet Peace — obey!" 




T is a strange, unguided love that 
prompts a mother to call a child of 
three years, playing upon the sidewalk 
unattended, to ''Come and kiss mother 
goodbye, and don't go on the street 
and get run over and hurt while I am gone." 
But this is a quality of love possessed by some 
mothers today. Thoughtful parents who live 
in neighborhoods of children know that my 
statement is true. And these parents are made 
to feel sorrowful many times, for Motherhood 
is so inclusive. 

As one who loves children, because I realize 
their possibilities, I want to make a plea for 
their welfare. All children are nothing less 
than future men and women who must make 
the laws that govern nations. I often think as 
I watch mothers in their effort to control their 
children, what would be the effect if an angel 
— a sure enough angel — should suddenly de- 
scend and say: ''You have in your keeping 
102 



Parenthood 

a Christ Child. Guard it, guide it and let it 
grow in God's way. Give it all the love you 
can, for as its mother you must, of all beings, 
give an accurate account to God for your 
trust." I fancy that, if this should happen, all 
the worldly-wise mothers would immediately 
turn their lives inside out, and have a most 
wonderful self-cleaning up. They would soon 
be possessed of new eyes, new hearts, new 
minds. The fathers, too, would come running 
home from their places of business to join the 
mothers in their pride and happiness of the 
high office of appointment. My! would not 
things generally take a mighty turn, if parents 
should receive such glorious information? In- 
stead of the cold indifference accorded so many 
children by their sponsors, the Christ children 
would receive the most patient and thoughtful 
consideration. Their growth and progress 
would be planned most carefully. They would 
be regarded so sacredly that no outside influ- 
ences would be possible. They would be 
clothed in the etheric garments of prayer. If 
mothers and fathers had the faintest knowl- 
edge that they were the parents of a ''superior" 
child, what superior preparations would be 
made for the coming of the ''enlightened" 
being. First would come gratitude to the 
great God of Love, to be followed by the most 

103 



Wine for the Soul 

guarded system of thought in their own minds. 
What a select draft of friends would bear them 
company during the waiting period of the 
Christ Child that was coming to earth. How 
splendidly would the poorest use their oppor- 
tunity. Cleanliness in the smallest detail 
would be regarded. The swaddling clothes of 
this child would be selected with the utmost 
skill and care. And when the Christ Child 
was once in the keeping of the parent, with 
what interest and curiosity its every wish 
would be regarded. 

How carefully would the mother reply to 
its innocent queries. And when it did some 
unexpected thing, how very thoughtful would 
mother become. Instead of calling it a 
^'blamed, meddlesome thing," she would lift 
her heart heavenward, and say, "Show me the 
way, God, to answer this child's demand." 
Ah, no, she would never resort to boxing its 
sensitive ears. It would be an awful thing to 
do, to strike a Christ Child! How very polite 
both parents would be to this promising savior 
of the world. It would always be, "I thank 
you, child," and "Will you please do this for 
me?" "I think this way is the safest, my dear; 
suppose you try it. I will patiently show you 
how." Yes, this would be the treatment of 
104 



Parenthood 

the Christ Child, if it was only assured as such. 
But the present-day child falls short of 
thoughtful treatment, and yet it is in all cer- 
tainty a Christ Child — a little god from the 
spheres celestial! 

Mother, dear, how you have suffered to 
bring your Christ Child into this expression 
of life, yet you treat it more like an evil thing, 
leaving it all alone, unprotected, just hoping 
that it will not get run over and killed out- 
right. Wake up, mother; it is never too late 
to begin anew. Even though years have cov- 
ered its brow with your neglect, the Christ 
spirit is there and can be reached only by the 
power of your wonderful, confiding love. 
Don't let even its father tell you that it has 
gone beyond your reach, for he is only some 
mother's Christ Child who does not under- 
stand. Whatever the age or experience, chil- 
dren are as a piece of putty in the hands of the 
mother who is conscious of the divine power 
of Mother Love. And mother love of the 
clean, pure quality cannot leave her Christ 
Child on the street unattended, and at the 
mercy of conditions even more deadly than 
street cars and automobiles. 

Indeed the Christ Child belongs at the 
mother's side until it has matured to her 

105 



Wine for the Soul 

strength of understanding. When this holy 
moment arrives, nothing, no one, can detach 
that child from her ways of wisdom. The 
Christ Child is calling to every mother today. 
Mother, dear, it asks to be loved, played with 
and entertained. For you it is longing, long- 
ing so. Go take it again to your breast, as 
only you can, and as its companion and con- 
fidant let it redeem you. 

LOVE'S WHITE ROD 

Give me a home in which to work 

And build my life; 
Give me a man of truth and strength 

Out of the strife; 
Give me a child — that wondrous thing 

From the heart of God, — 
I'll dare the world then, men and kings, 

With Love's white rod! 



io6 



SHOW ME THE WAY* 

Show me the way, O Heavenly One ; 
Show me Thy way, that Thy will may be done. 
Give me the strength to follow each day 
The path where Thou leadest; Oh! show me the 
way. 

Though it be through the valley where clouds 

hang low, 
If Thou leadest, Father, there will I go, 
All unafraid of the shadows' dark blue, 
For Thou art the Light I wish to pursue. 

Just show me the way out of doubt, out of fear ; 
Then surely I'll know Thou art very near; 
And my heart will leap into joyous song, 
For as the days brighten, my soul shall grow 
strong. 



* A perfect song with musical setting by Homer Tourjee, published 
by the I,os Angeles Music Publishing Company. 

107 




THE THINGS THAT ARE WORTH 
WHILE 

OMETIMES the strongest are 
tempted to ask: ''What is worth 
while?" but to the strong soul, though 
it be passing through its Gethsemane, 
comes the echo from the heart of the 
real — Everything that touches Life with the 
slightest bit of truth is worth while. 

If that sojourn in Gethsemane adds to our 
life one glint of truth ; if it gives us a greater 
understanding of our weaknesses and succeeds 
in showing us a fault in ourselves; if out of 
its gloom, we have gained more sympathy, 
more generosity, more tolerance, more love 
for other struggling creatures, then our weary, 
toilsome journey in the Garden of Gloom has 
been well worth while. 

Surely a wise hand held us all the way and 
a silent, merciful voice beat upon our worldly 
ears a song of knowledge, which could be 
gained only through the experience of this 
journey. And if we gained the knowledge in- 
tended for us, certainly we will never pass 
that way again. The Infinite Good, who rules 
lo8 



The Things ThatAreWorthWhile 

all, rules also our Gethsemane and takes us 
there for a divine purpose. We need its scenes 
and experiences to aid us in the performance 
of higher duties. There is no mistake but 
that our lives are always in their proper set- 
ting. 

Through experience only do we gather 
knowledge by which to conquer future diffi- 
culties, and, conquering, become strong. 

Whatever adds in the smallest way to the 
world's betterment, even though it necessitates 
personal suffering, is worth while. We never 
know how small a thing may become a bene- 
diction to a human life. The one who says 
an encouraging word to the disheartened or 
gives a look of love or speaks a sentence which 
may become strength, guidance or comfort to 
another, does something worth while. 

Every singer who has sung a pure, sweet 
song has lent a harmony to Earth and Heaven 
that will bless through all eternity. Every 
artist, who has painted a noble picture, has put 
an immortal touch to Life's canvas and all the 
World has been made better for it. Every 
writer, who has penned a line of Truth for the 
encouragement of Humanity has proven 
himself a living inspiration. Every kind 
word dropped from tender lips has been as 
spices dropped into the ocean of Life. 

109 



Wine for the Soul 

It is always worth while to do our best to 
give a helping hand to those who need us, to 
speak the gentle word — to be kind. For we 
never know how soon that we will be called 
upon to take our little journey into the Garden 
of Gloom and reap the seed we have some- 
where, some time sown, however secure we at 
present feel in our flower-strewn garden of 
Daphne. 

Our pure sweet Optimism should be thrown 
like a veil of light over all. A noble sympathy 
that is beautiful and purifying can emanate 
from each one. It is quite the thing worth 
while, and makes us attractive, magnetic, pros- 
perous creatures. 

To do these things worth the doing — or 
worth the while — we should first remember 
there is nothing common in God's world ; there 
is no time, no place and no person that is com- 
mon; but all things, all people are one and 
equally important in his great plan of life. 
The difference only is in our point of view, and 
the best of us have a very poor vision indeed. 
Some people can only be aroused to a sense of 
music by a great Brass Band, while others are 
touched to a deep feeling by the gentle mur- 
mur of the brook or the ripple of melody from 
a bird's throat — it is all in the person. 

Before we can discern the things that are 
110 



The Things THAT ARE Worth While 

really worth while, we must first give up self- 
seeking. In the wholesome life, there is no 
great, no ''mine" or ''thine." 

All things are for all. As the waters recede 
from Tantalus, so do the good things of life 
from the egotistical, jealous and selfish spirit. 
But all true blessings of life are in the way of 
that one who is sincere, patient and forgetful 
of self, and tries to be helpful to the world and 
who spends his life in loving, generous deeds. 

Worry, regret and discontent,_ together with 
self-seeking, these are the things we must let 
go, would we do those things that are worth 
while. When we gain power — the power that 
is uplifting and everlasting in its influence, the 
sting of the bitter word will not drop from our 
lips, no deed of ours will wound another. We 
will know that that which gives pain is not the 
thing worth while. There is a way of being 
kind in our severest reproofs. The wounds we 
inflict may heal and in time the scar may dis- 
appear, but the memory of it will never fade. 
All this we each will learn in our course of 
Spiritual evolution. 

Through our experiences, we will awaken 
some fair morning with the knowledge that it 
is worth while to be wise in the use of time 
and opportunity and our faces will light with 
a new and more loving smile for all. 

Ill 



A SMILE 

A smile is like a sunbeam, 

Piercing through a rift; 
Though voiceless is its presence, 

It has the power to lift 
The heart made sad and lonely, 

By worldly hollow mirth. 
And place it in a setting 

Above the things of earth. 
A smile seems but a trifle — 

Perhaps to some, 'tis so; 
To others it's a brilliance 

Which sets all life aglow. 



112 



LIFE'S SUM-TOTAL 

"Love me and the world is mine !" 
Oh ! the joy, and oh ! the bliss ! 

No other power need I then 
Than this, just this. 

Love me, and all else will yield 

In my soul, what's good, what's best; 

Conquered, I'll prove conqueror 
O'er all the rest, o'er all the rest. 

"Love me and the world is mine !" 
Mine and thine, dear, oh, the bliss ! 

Love's the master, Love's the law; 
Proudest knee must bow to this. 



113 




WINNING YOUR WAY 

HEN you enter a strange community 
and a friend invites you out to meet a 
throng of new people, how natural it 
is for you to want to look your best, to 
speak your kindest, and smile your 
sweetest. Forgetting all your disappoint- 
ments, all the harsh things you ever heard or 
said, the occasion calls for only the one desire 
— the desire to please, to make a good impres- 
sion upon those whom you hope to claim in 
future, as friends and pleasant acquaintances. 
How easy it is to ignore all past unpleasant 
memories. 

You are there to play your part well; you 
are winning your way. In this effort you are 
laying the foundation for much future happi- 
ness, as well as enjoying a delightful present. 
You are on this occasion giving and taking, you 
are putting griefs and worriments behind you. 
You are doing this easily and unaided, save for 
the kindness of the friend who introduced you. 
You are there, refusing to see anything but 
the best in those about you or to give anything 
114 



Winning Your Way 

but the best of yourself. You must go away 
conscious that you have ''made good." 

One less conversant with the things that 
please, queries, "How can you do it?" 

It is simple: On this occasion you are act- 
ing unselfishly; you are forgetting all unpleas- 
antries. Everything of an inharmonious na- 
ture is cast aside, in your determination to 
please others; you are seeing life from its 
''sunny side." In other words, you are endear- 
ing yourself to the new throng, by your gra- 
cious, cheery, optimistic manner. You are 
making friends and it is only natural that you 
hear noised about next day that "there is a 
charming, new acquisition to social circles." 

That is your aim and object — you can boast 
of neither money nor any special accomplish- 
ment. You do not need them; you possess 
something more sure and powerful. You can 
both forget and remember. Your power to 
please acts like an elixir upon those around 
you. No jealous or envious mind can block 
your way. Your tender, optimistic nature 
sweeps everything before it. You are winning 
and you are glad — everybody is glad, and a 
few wonder why. 

Ah, how much more profitable life would 
be, if we would always just "play like" we 

115 



Wine for the Soul 

were in a new community, with new people, 
anxious to win friends by our friendliness and 
graciousness; willing to forget the wear and 
tear of the day; willing only to talk upon the 
topics that contain bright, cheery and con- 
structive ideas. 

There is so much usefulness in talking our 
best, in smiling our sweetest and doing our 
utmost to make others forget the cares of life. 
This would not make us any the less true and 
sincere, but it would help us mightily to be- 
come a great deal more so. 

Whatever our trial or grief, it is best to 
struggle with it in the silence of self — the 
Great Self. It is sure to work out all right. 
It always does, if you are brave and hopeful. 



116 



PRAY WITHOUT CEASING 

When grey sorrow comes your way — 
And Life's clouds obscure the day, 
Then Pray! 

When you behold another's need — 
Help by tender word and deed, 
And Pray ! 

When you crave to soar on high — 
Your wings seem clipped, don't sigh — 
But Pray I 

When the day's clouds turn to light — 
Life's sorrow to laughter bright, 
Pray, pray ! 

Pray throughout, whate'er the test — 
It will help to hold the best. 
So Pray! 



117 




IN THE WORLD'S WILDERNESS 

In the wilderness of self, we are oftimes lost; 
Then, Soul, to the rescue, whatever the cost! 

ITH the most of us our ways of living 
are trivial and exceedingly unsatisfac- 
tory. Our so-called pleasant vices lead 
us into the maze of painful perplexity. 
Our ideals of what may be best for our 
own enjoyment and advancement fall far short 
of our dreams. Our amusements pall on our 
over-wearied senses. Our youth takes its 
flight like "a puff of thistle-down on the wind" 
and we spend all our time feverishly trying to 
live without understanding life. Like so many 
lambs from the fold of a protecting shepherd 
we find ourselves playing hide and seek in the 
jungle of the world's wilderness. 

This wilderness is wide and in it we encoun- 
ter strange surprises and all sorts of compan- 
ions, some recklessly hilarious, some crouch- 
ing fearfully among shadows, too weary to 
move at all; others sauntering idly on, won- 
dering when the journey will end. 

But we meet a few in the wilderness who 
tell us that it is not a wilderness at all, but a 
118 



In the World's Wilderness 

place of sweet refuge, where the voice of 
silence speaks to the soul; where the veil of 
appearance is lifted and a life of reality is re- 
vealed, and the voice of the spirit is heard to 
say, '^Be ye perfect even as I am perfect," con- 
veying the knowledge that God has given us 
the faculties which shall help us to be perfect. 

Yes, we are in the wilderness of the world. 
Many are lost in the brier-wood tangle and are 
seeking their way out of the shadows, longing 
for the bright sun of the day, for joy, hope and 
sweet peace. Ah, if we only knew how full 
we ourselves are of the things that heal the 
heart-wounds, self-inflicted, we would raise 
our heads toward the source of light, and we 
would never look down again. 

There is nothing in the wide world that can 
cure our ills and give us perfection but our- 
selves! Nothing can possibly come to us from 
the external. It is all from within out. God 
is within us — His image — which means His 
mind, since he has no physical body. The God 
within us is the only solace, the only guide that 
will change our wilderness into a garden of 
sweets. It is the realization of this vast truth 
that will give us the things we need to help us 
— health and power. But we must call, and 
call, again and again, for the God within to 

119 



Wine for the Soul 

come forth, and give us that love, that power 
and peace, which frees from the entanglements 
and discouragements that separate us from the 
fullness of life. 

We are a part of Divine creation — as sacred 
a fact in the universe as God, because we are 
made in His Divine image, therefore we have 
an absolute right to command health, joy, 
peace and power. And any thought that re- 
verses that right is untrue, and is only the 
language of the dark shadows of external life, 
which will in time pass away. To get out of 
the wilderness of shadows, we must command 
positively — not fearfully, doubtfully. If we 
persist in living in the shadows of thought, we 
must expect discordant confusion when we 
would see where to place our feet. 

We must bestir ourselves, would we come 
into our true inheritance — into the grace and 
beauty of being. We must create for ourselves 
a proper balance and a perfect comprehension 
of our powers to win, so that the soul which 
finds itself in the wilderness, encounters no 
more misleading lights or shadows, no more 
needing to lean upon another, for peace of 
mind and happiness. 

The Soul, seeking freedom, learns to "let 
go" even those things and persons which it 
120 



In the World's Wilderness 

holds dearest, for it is in ^'letting go," that it 
gains real and lasting possession of the thing 
and person it loves. This is the peace that the 
awakened one finds in the wilderness, this is 
the message that will cheer and bless all along 
the way. 



121 



IN PERPETUUM 

I move In the soundless march 

Of the ever flaming stars. 
My soul demands I climb and toll 

Despite the pain that jars. 
Through transmutation I must work 

My way toward the end, 
And even there I must not pause, 

My soul will time extend.' 



122 




0J16 235"Tf' ""'"^ 



